Author Archives: John Taylor
In Praise of an Extraordinary Teacher of Economics
Those of us who teach economics stand on the shoulders of those who taught us economics. I just heard the sad news that one of my truly extraordinary economics teachers, E. Philip Howrey, recently died in a biking accident. When … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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Day 1 of Economics 1
I find the first day of the school year to be exciting, especially when a lot of first-year students are in my classes as is the case with Economics 1, the introductory economics course I teach at Stanford and the course … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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Not More of the Same Model Simulations!
Simulations of Mark Zandi’s economic model, which are reported in the press to show that a new temporary stimulus package will create 1.9 million jobs, are being touted as evidence that it will work. This is the same type of model simulation that predicted … Continue reading
Posted in Stimulus Impact
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When So-Called Hawks Are Really Doves
The Fed’s dual mandate of “maximum employment” and “stable prices” is in the news again. At the recent presidential debate, the major Republican candidates made the case for repealing the dual mandate, while the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans, made … Continue reading
Posted in Monetary Policy
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Two Congressional Hearings on the Second Stimulus and Alternatives
Congress was busy working on fiscal policy today. This morning, over on the House side, it held its first hearing on President Obama’s fiscal stimulus proposal. As one of the witnesses, I argued that the fiscal policy responses thus far to the unemployment … Continue reading
Posted in Stimulus Impact
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The Financial Front in the War on Terror
Few Americans now remember that the United States launched its first post-9/11 attack on terrorists from a very unusual front—the financial front. As President George W. Bush put it, “the first shot in the war was when we started cutting … Continue reading
Posted in International Economics
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Don’t Stay the Course
Here is my New York Times oped Not More of the Same on why it is urgent to change the course of economic policy. My critique of Keynesian countercyclical policy, which is summarized in the NYT article, has been challenged by Fred Bergsten of the Peterson … Continue reading
Posted in Stimulus Impact
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On the New Greatest Generation
With the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 approaching people have been asking me to write about the impact of 9/11 on economic policy making in Washington, where I ran the international division of the U.S. Treasury at the time, and to … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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The Economic Past is Economic News
You cannot really understand monetary economics or monetary policy without knowing economic history. No self-respecting monetary economist goes to work without knowing the ins and outs of historical periods like the Depression of the 1930s or great works on such periods, … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching Economics
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Why the M2 Growth Spurt?
Quantitative Easing (both I and II) has caused the monetary base—the sum of currency and bank reserves—to explode in the past three years, but has not resulted in similarly large increases in the growth of broader measures of the money supply … Continue reading
Posted in Monetary Policy
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Economics One 